And now, for something to make you scratch your head and say, “WTF?” In celebration of the 58th anniversary of Chikin Ramen, the original instant ramen noodle, Nissin Foods has put together a mind-boggling, two-and-a-half-minute commercial that somehow uses zombies, a gender swap, a ramen-stealing drone, ninja moves, a Rube Goldberg machine, and samurai to communicate the idea that ramen is forever.
Why the 58th anniversary? Well, it’s sort of a significant number: Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles, was 58 years old when he locked himself in a shed and perfected his noodles. That was, you guessed it, back in 1958. (For a deeper dive into the fascinating history of instant ramen, allow us to direct you to Parker Hilton’s coverage of the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka, Japan.)
The video is entirely in Japanese, with just a few subtitles to help you figure out what in the heck is going on (hint: you can’t), but there is one major takeaway: the Japanese know how to make instant ramen less sad. Cracking a raw egg into instant ramen while the noodles soften? Genius, absolutely genius. Cheers to the next 58 years of 10-cent instant noodle packs. Cheers forever.
